Sitting back in my chair, I said, “Was that a distraction or an attempt to get your way?”
“Both,” Drew said before taking a sip of coffee.
I laughed softly. That man was dangerous on so many levels. Across the kitchen table from me, Olivia stared at us. Then she said, “Sam, I want a kiss like that.”
Sam walked to the table, bent down, and poked out his lips to make a fish face. Laughing, Olivia put her palm to his face and pushed him away. “Goof-ball.”
Clay came drifting into the kitchen, glancing at each of us like we lost our minds. “Have you heard anything?” He knew as well as the rest of them that I was freaking out about Wade.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
He sighed. “I’m worried too. I wish I could leave this damn house and go look myself.”
I checked my phone again to make sure I hadn’t received a message in the last thirty-five seconds. Then I was up pacing again. Where the heck was he?
And why wasn’t he returning my calls or messages?
Another car went by outside, so I rushed to the window. It was just a random car. Not Wade. A random thought crossed my mind. “The vampires have him,” I said to no one in particular as I stared at the house across the street. That was the only thing that made any sense.
Wade could’ve been dead. My heart squeezed, and it became hard to breathe.
Drew came over to me and took my hand. The next thing I knew we were walking out of the house with his arm around me. Sam and Olivia walked right behind us.
“Where does Wade live?” Drew asked, locking his fingers with mine.
I pointed to our right. “Turn left at the stop sign, then left on the next street over.”
When we reached the stop sign, we heard footsteps behind us. Turning, I spotted Wallie and Zoey jogging toward us. So, we waited.
Once the kids joined us, we walked as a group to Wade’s house in silence. However, we did slow down as we passed the backyard to the vamps’ house. Even though it was morning, the sky was overcast and looked like it might rain later. The sun wasn’t quite out, and I noticed a few of the fanged ones in the yard. Jaxon wasn’t outside and I didn’t recognize any of them from the other night. How many vampires lived in this house? Was there an underground labyrinth?
One of the vampires growled out the word hunter as we passed. Drew tensed beside me, then a spark from the magic he kept a very tight lid on tingled in my hand.
I met Drew’s gaze and arched a brow, but he shook his head to let me know he was okay. I didn’t dare say anything that close to the vamps, but I was eager to know about this magic spark.
When we reached Wade’s house, something was off. My dream flashed in my mind. I pushed it away as I was worried, but I didn't have the power of foresight. I had no reason to be worried yet.
“Someone else has been here,” Zoey said as she scented the air. Her perky nose wrinkled. “A vampire.”
I knew it. Letting go of Drew’s hand, I rushed toward the front door and dug out the spare key to Wade’s house. I had forgotten it the last time, so I’d made sure I grabbed it and put it in my pocket first thing this morning when I got up. I hadn’t been about to head over here without a key again.
As I stuck the key into the lock, Drew covered my hand, stopping me. “I’ll go in first.”
I rolled my eyes. “No one is inside.” I knew he was a hunter, but he didn’t have to be so macho. I was the big, bad witch, after all.
“How do you know?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
I stared at him with my lips pressed into a thin line and one corner dipped in a half frown. “Necromancer, remember? I can sense dead and living people. If there was someone inside, I’d know. Especially if that someone was paranormal.”
His lips twitched as if I’d amused him. Then he leaned in close. “I’m still going in first.”
To stop me from arguing, he gave me a quick kiss while unlocking the door and pushing it open. The kiss was nothing like the one in the kitchen minutes ago, but it was enough to stun me. Dating someone was so new to me. I felt like a teenager again.
We walked in and emotions flooded me. Mostly panic because the living room was a total mess. The coffee table had been knocked onto its side, one of the lamps laid shattered on the floor. Pictures knocked off the walls. It looked like the aftermath of a bar fight. Turning to Zoey, I inhaled deeply. “Do you smell blood?”
She nibbled her lower lip and nodded. She didn't want to tell me but couldn’t lie to me either. It was the necromancer-ghoul bond we shared. It was possible for them to lie to me, but it was difficult.
Crap. The panic spread to my fingertips. “We need to search the house.”
Sam held up a hand, “No one touches anything. You lot stay here. Drew and I will go through the house.”
I crossed my arms over my more than a handful of breasts and glared at the men as they went off in different directions. Olivia nudged me and pointed to the sunroom off the back of the house. “Let’s go check out there.”
I nodded and led the way. While we checked out the sunroom and the backyard, finding nothing, the guys searched the rest of the house while hopefully leaving everything as it was. I knew they were being careful just in case Wade’s disappearance wasn’t paranormal related. If it was just a home invasion involving a regular old human, then we’d have to call the local police and let them handle it.
Yeah, right. I was betting it was paranormal and a vampire was involved. I’d bet Winston on it.
We met back in the living room. Drew said, “No signs of him. The rest of the house hasn’t been touched. That makes me think the fight or struggle happened here.”
“Did you find the blood?” I asked.
Sam and Drew both shook their heads.
“It’s not like we can call the police,” Olivia said, looking at Sam for directions.
Sam shook his head. “No, this isn’t a human crime.”
Zoey growled low in her throat. “This was vampires.”
I hugged my waist and moved toward the front door. “I’ll ask Jaxon. When we went over there the other day, he seemed to act like he was in charge. It was like the others looked to him as a leader. I say we march right over there and ask him if he knows anything.”
Drew and Sam looked reluctant, but finally, Drew nodded. “I don’t think this is going to go well,” he grumbled.
Hurrying out of Wade’s house, we rushed toward the vamp house and stopped at their backyard. Waving my arms, I got the attention of one of them. It was a huge backyard. When he got closer, I realized it was Leo. The one I could tell didn’t like me. Well, it was okay. The feeling was mutual. “Is Jaxon up?”
“No.” Leo snarled. “He doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Balling my hands into fists, I was about to zap him with a little power when Drew tugged me away then glared at Leo and the other two who had joined him. “Tell him I want to talk to him at nightfall, or I will be back. Alone.” He snarled his lip and even though the threat wasn’t aimed at me, I felt the severity of it.
Leo watched us leave and I watched him watch us.
Drew pulled me close. “Don’t taunt the vampires.”
“He started it.” I sighed and cuddled into him as we walked back home.